Not enough time in the day to finish what you need to get done? Wish the day was longer? I do too; not for work though. So I have more time to do things I enjoy.
Like all productivity articles, these 7 tips will help you save time and get more done in your workday. However, I also believe these tips will improve the quality of your work, helping you to think clearly and creatively.
Eliminate Online Temptations
You probably thought I was going to tell you how to use technology to improve your productivity, but in this first tip I'm telling you to avoid it. There are so many distractions online, from news to gossip to videos and social media. For me the worst is news.
Not only are these online distractions productivity killers, but they can sap your energy and motivation. How often does reading the news in the morning make you happy and keep you energized throughout the day?
I make an effort not to read or watch any news during my workday. And I don't start my day with news; it's usually too negative and leads to a slow start. If I get any news at all it's at the end of the day, while I'm working out or during downtime.
You may have your own online vices: YouTube, Facebook, Reddit. I treat these sites like dessert: I can indulge in them AFTER I've eaten all my vegetables. (By the way, contrary to popular belief, social media is NOT work unless you're executing a plan.)
This is a productivity tip that requires your own self-control. I gave you couple examples of how I manage my distractions, which you can emulate, but it's up to you to come up with a plan for yourself.
By eliminating the online distractions, I believe you'll find that you get more done. Perhaps more importantly, you'll feel better doing it by eliminating the negativity.
Take Your Breaks Seriously
You've probably heard the advice to take periodic breaks while you work. Breaks can refresh the mind and getting up out of your chair helps get the blood flowing to the lower part of your body.
To get the most from breaks there's a technique you can called the Pomodoro Technique. Basically it works like this: you work for a set period of time, like 25 minutes, then take a 3 to 5 minute break. After the break start another 25 minute work session and repeat the pattern. After four sessions take a longer break, 15 minutes or more.
There are variations to this technique. I first heard about it from a legendary copywriter who recommended 33 minute sessions. Twenty-five is recommended but you may find an interval that works better for you.
I find the technique helps with writing. Usually after the break I get one or two new ideas to write about or think of better ways to make my points. It also helps me feel refreshed when taking care of mundane tasks.
If I'm feeling a little fatigued, I'll use my break to have a glass of cold water and take a short walk outside to get the mail or see what my cats are up to. You'd be surprised how a little water and physical activity can boost your energy. It's almost as good as coffee. If you can, try to get outside the office during your breaks.
To use the Pomodoro Technique you'll need a timer. There are numerous timer apps you can download for free and use. I like using a real cooking timer on my desk, which some experts recommend, but anything to let you know when to stop and start working is fine.
Salvage Dead Time with Your Smartphone or Tablet
This is my favorite tech tip. "Dead time" is any small pocket of time throughout the day spent while waiting in offices, airports, before a meeting, riding the subway, etc. Instead of these being timewasters, you can use them to knockout tasks.
Today's phones have more computer processing power that the average desktop computer did a few years ago. These days, you can be just as productive in the doctor's waiting room as you are in the office. Even an econo-smartphone can provide a huge productivity boost.
Thanks to all the apps available for your mobile device, you can stay on top of customer service, participate in meetings, manage your website and even respond to blog commenters. You can service your customers faster, respond immediately to new leads and capture fresh thought and ideas.
I primarily use dead time to catch up on emails. But there are times I'll start to work on a paper I need to write or crunch some numbers in a spreadsheet. Research and note taking are other tasks that are great for dead time.
Commuting for most is a large chunk of dead time and a great opportunity to cross several tasks off your to-do list. Even if you drive yourself to work each day you can still be productive. For instance, there are apps that can read your emails out loud, and if you're feeling brave, you can learn how to respond to message with your voice. You can listen in on live or recorded meetings.
Once I had a meeting with at an office over an hour from my house. As I drove home from the meeting, I used a dictation app to write a report based on information shared in the meeting. Since it was fresh in my mind it turned out to be the best time to start capturing thoughts. When I arrived home, I opened the document I dictated, did a few minutes of editing and sent it off to everyone who attended the meeting. Done!
Use Folders
This tip really deserves its own article or ebook. The age of massive hard drives and unlimited free email storage has created a new problem: finding stuff. How much time are you wasting each day searching for files on your computer or for important emails in your inbox?
I call this the silent productivity killer because most people don't realize how much time they waste looking for things. As we collect more and more information every day, the problem gets worse to the point where the search features on our desktops and in our emails become less effective.
Your incoming information needs to be organized and managed. Start by having a plan for received info: act, file or delete.
Act and delete are self-evident. Before you can file something you'll need a place to put it where it can be easily retrieved when needed. Begin creating folders on your computer and in your email to organize saved information.
Spend a little time planning your folders ahead of time. Having too many folders is not going to help much. Get out a sheet of paper and start mapping out a logical hierarchy for your information.
On your computer, stick to no more than 5 to 7 folders at each level. Less is more; a screen with 20 folders makes it hard to quickly identify which one you need. You can probably organize all your information in two or three levels, meaning it will only take 3 clicks to get what you need.
Also, learn how to favorite or bookmark folders you use often. Keep your desktop clean of icons and place a few shortcuts to these folders. Again, keep the number of icons to 6 or 7.
For email, organize your folders into broader topics compared to your computer and try to keep subfolders at one level. Avoid using email as an information archive. If someone sends an important PDF, save it to your computer and access it from there.
I realize emails are also a record of when something was sent, along with notes attached, but try your best to offload as much as you can. Stick to using email for messaging, it wasn't really designed to be a library.
When using email, discipline yourself not to read something unless you're willing to act on it, file it or delete it. Don't read an email and leave it in your inbox for later! You just read it, why read the same message two or three times?
Again, there are books written on this topic. These were just a few quick tips, but if you're overwhelmed by PDFs, spreadsheets and emails, here are a couple resources:
Getting Things Done
Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook
Bookmark Online Information
This tip goes hand-in-hand with the last one. Someone sends you a link to an important website, or you come across a valuable article you want to use in the future.
A week later and you want to revisit that site, but you can't find it! You run through the site name in your head to try and remember, or search for that email perhaps giving up and asking the friend to resend it. Either way, you've lost time you didn't need to.
Trying to remember sites and links is futile. Start saving important sites and online resources by bookmarking the links.
There are many tools that can be used to bookmark sites and links. One of the most well-known is Evernote, which as also has apps for Android, iPhone and WindowsPhone so you can save and access your information across all devices.
I've used a bookmarking service for years called Diigo. I like the features more than Evernote, though the Evernote app is much better than Diigo's. Since I do most of my research on my desktop computer Diigo works out well for me.
Diigo and Evernote offer free toolbars you can install in your browser. When you visit a link that's worth saving, just click a button on the toolbar and the site is captured forever. You can also make notes on what you save, list, categorize and tag for easy retrieval. If you need to download a list of items you've saved, you can do that too.
Turn Off Email and Chat Programs
Chat programs like Skype and Google Talk/Hangouts can break your concentration and interrupt your thought at the worse times. People on the other end don't know what you're in the middle of and seem to assume whatever you're doing is not important.
Keep these turned off while you work. Better yet, configure the settings so they don't start up automatically when you turn your computer on in the morning. Don't rely on "invisible" modes, your friends may think you're really online and try messaging you even though your status says offline.
Email is a bottomless pit. As soon as you finish one email three more pop in your inbox. This goes on all day and there's nothing you can do except pull yourself away.
I set times during the day I check mail. I'm between those times I don't have any email programs open to prevent being distracted by the new message notifications (I've found turning those off to be ineffective).
I have a hard deadline in the morning to stop reading emails and get to work. If I'm not done with emails when the deadline is reached it doesn't matter. I shut down my email program and switch gears.
Some productivity experts recommend not checking email at all in the morning. It's too easy to lose track of time and space. For me, I have customers and I can't take the chance of missing a question came in during the night. I need to look through my inbox each morning for at least a few minutes.
The next time I check mail is during "dead time," mentioned in tip #3. It's inevitable I have one or two dead time situations each day.
Towards the end of my day, after I've knocked out my most important tasks, is when I spend time cleaning out my inbox. I'll try to respond, save or delete everything I can in about 30 minutes.
That's an example of how I handle email. Like I said earlier, the reason you stop working on email each day is because you decide it's time to work on something else. It only makes sense to put time limits on your email checking.
If you're running a business where you handle customer service or you need to respond to escalations and decisions, you'll have to come up with a reasonable email schedule that maintains your service levels.
Use To-do and Calendar Apps
You may use a paper notepad for to manage your daily to-do list, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. I still use a whiteboard in my office to remind myself of important dates.
However, there are some advantages to using online task managers and calendars. Here are a few:
- Sharing - With online calendars, such as Google Calendar, you can share types of events with certain people. It could save you from having to explain to someone what you have planned in the coming week if they can see for themselves.
- Collaboration - If you're part of a project team, you may have tasks that are dependent on others. An online task manager can notify you when something you're waiting on is done or automatically assign new tasks.
- Reporting - When you have to submit expense or progress reports, it's nice not to have to put together a real paper trail. Online calendars will allow you to export dates you traveled or worked, and task management apps can list everything you completed during a certain period.
- Reminders – You can set due dates on tasks and schedule reminders. And of course, people have been using reminders for events and meetings for as long as the personal computer has been around.
Whether you use paper or apps, or a combination of both (like me), the main point of this tip is to have something you can refer to that tells you what you need to do and when to do it.
I like to spend the last few minutes of my workday jotting down what I need to do the following day. I glance at what I already have scheduled and factor that into my list. Then I prioritize the list. That's the to-do list I'll refer to in the morning.
Have a tech tip that boosts productivity? Let us know about it in the comments below.
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